Thing about riding here is it is either mostly flat or big climbs. Riverside SP rides are less than 100′ / mile but MT Spokane etc are well over that amount. Of course what goes up must come down.
Last night I chose to do a group ride that turned out to be just Frank and his wife Phyllis. we met outside the park and pedaled away at almost 6 PM. Sunset is 7:05. They packed lights but didn’t tell me about needing a light. Frank used the ride as race training. He said it would not be a hammer pace, but we still got after it as did his wife. We really scooted, our average speed was 8.99 mph but climbed only 35′ / mile. He did show me ridden in trails that were new to me. The tread there has many small babyheads to pedal over. My bike handles them easily and fun. After awhile the trails all look the same. They rattled off trail names that he said are from Strava segments. Darkness caught us still in the woods with Frank needing additional training minutes. Kindly he led us back to a paved road for safe no light riding back to van. Frank raced the Mah Dah Hee trail in ND. I also had ridden there, in fact I rode the inaugural race years ago but not as a racer. We talked about the course etc. I told him that he prolly has nobody else to talk about trails he has ridden except for me. That is the case with many riders I speak with.
Thursday was clean sheets day, every 2 weeks to care for those sheets. It’s the tightly made bed that is noticeable. Still hot enough at night to need only a covering sheet until early morning to pull over a single down blanket layer.
On Tuesday I rode MT Spokane again starting from the Beach, I needed 30 mins to ride 2.27 miles of pavement to climb 738′ to connect to the dirt. As I said, what goes up has to come back down. One descending route is named Jedi forest ( I believe) that is beatup unsustainable trail. To me it is unconscionable to ride it. It’s like a mini Black MTN trail in the Pisgah with drops over roots and brake ruts. I rode it my first ride this year to see if corrections had been made, still the same condition. The trail dumps out behind Bear Creek lodge and only .5 miles of pavement coasting back to van versus riding the better trail for a mile of pavement. On trail 100 the last rides I encountered turkeys.
I broadened my van repair choices and found Ammco transmission to check out on the 15th. Guy said Sprinters are not an uncommon vehicle. So I am here until at least that date.
Smoke haze has settled over Spokane yet the air quality is almost out of the yellow range. Rain is forecast for today and tonight. I said that maybe if it does rain school should be let out for students to enjoy the oddity of rain. Oh, tomorrow is Saturday and they will be out of school. For the parched NW rain will be an oddity. I might ride tomorrow in the rain to experience what I would normally avoid.
Concern over van health keeps me close to Bill’s. I don’t have a burning desire to scorch my britches on a monster climb today. Not riding leaves many hours of free time to occupy.
Washington State parks allow E bikes on natural surface trails.
Yesterday was my 72nd birthday. If my Mom could only see me now.